Q: What does the words "or other person lawfully in charge thereof" mean when used in Va State Code 18.2-119?
A:
This language in the trespass statute is meant to include anybody who has legal right (by ownership, contract, agency, etc.) to prevent another person from entering the land, buildings, or property in question.
Basically, anyone who owns a piece of property has the right (with some exceptions) to determine who can enter the property. They can give that right to exclude others to somebody else. Someone leasing the property from the owner, for instance, usually gets the right to exclude others under the contract. Sometimes, too, a property owner might authorize an employee to protect the land. This is why the statute mentions specifically owners, lessees, and custodians.
It is not always easy, to determine who exactly has the right to exclude others from the land. So rather than trying to do it, the legislature uses the language above to describe generally what they want to see happen. It is then up to the courts (and the lawyers) to figure out what it means based on the particular circumstances.
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